Withnail and I review

Malcolm Sinclair handles the role of Withnail’s wealthy gay uncle Monty with delicacy, convincingly reframing the character as desperately lonely rather than as an overt homophobic stereotype. His aggressive pursuit of Marwood is played off as a farcical, faintly sad misunderstanding, rather than the act of a sexual predator.

Foley’s staging is vigorous and inventive, smoothing off the story’s rougher edges with a high-tempo pacing and a fun, flippant tone. Every scene ends on a familiar punchline, and the talented actor-musician ensemble inject even more energy with live accompaniment, breaking into driving Hendrix riffs and groovy snatches of the Doors and the Kinks.

Much of the production’s dynamism comes from Alice Power’s extraordinary set, which shifts between locations with breathtaking speed, from seedy pubs to a mouldering Camden bedsit to a Penrith tearoom. At one point, Power even smuggles in a battered old Jaguar, making precise use of sliding screens to conceal the quickest of these changes, while props and furniture glide through hidden doors. Seamlessly integrated video and lighting from Akhila Krishnan and Jessica Hung Han Yun respectively paint winding country roads and miserable London tower blocks, while psychedelic effects ripple across the walls in queasy tones of velvety purple and lime green.

It all rattles by at breezy pace, and although the play lacks the acidity and bite of the film, this remains an entertaining, satisfyingly skewed sitcom packed with eminently quotable lines that will linger in your head like an unshakeable hangover.